Railway-car cover



w. 1. HOSCEIT.

RAILWAY CAR COVER APPLICATION FILED JULY 27, i917.

1,868,195, Patented Dec. 21, 1920'.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

In.. a @if W. J. HOSCEIT.

RAILWAY CAB COVER APPLICATION FILED JuLv 27.1917.

Patented Dec. 21

2 SHEETS-SHEEI 2.

UNlll STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM JOSEPH HOSCEIT, O CHCAGO, LLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO NATIONAL DUMP CAR COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.V

RAILWAY-CAB. COVER.

Patented Dec. 21, 1920.

Application led July 27, 1917. Serial No. 183,059.

To all whom t may concer/i Be it known that l, lViLLmM Josnrn Hoscnrr, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Chicago7 in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and -usei'ul Improvements in Railway- Car Covers, or' which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to railway cars, and more particularly to covers therefor.

One of the objects of my invention is to make a car convertible to carry various kinds oi merchandise.

Another object is to cover an open freight car in a novel manner.

Another object is to secure the cover in a novel manner.

And a further object is to provide a cover and secure the same to a car in a manner to meet the various requirements for successful commercial operation.

These and other objects are accomplished by providing a cover for railway cars-including a frame having relatively adjustable sections, and closure means carried by the frame.

The invention is illustrated on the accompanying sheets of drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a top plan view of my novel car cover;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view of the same taken along` the plane of line 2*2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a vfragmentary sectional view of the same taken in theplane of line 3 3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is av detail sectional view showing the method of securing` the eXible portion of the cover in operative position;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the saine taken in the plane of line 55 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a detail plan view of the same, and

7 is a fragmentai-y sectional view dis closing a modification of; the securing means.

The various novel features ot my invention willbe apparent from the ollowing description and drawings and will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Freight cars are in great demand these days, this being true ot all types of freight cars. My invention has particularly to do with general service freight cars which have no top. These cars are used primarily for carrying coal, sand, gravel or in short any articles which are not affected by the weather. ln these days of car shortage it is round imperative to use these open top cars for shipping` articles which would be affected by the weather, if the articles are to be moved within a reasonable time.

To vmake possible the use of these open top cars for the purpose of carrying grain and other material which is alected by the weather, .l have provided a novel removable and adjustable cover for the same thereby making them convertible for the purpose indicated.

The car which is illustrated herein is provided with side walls 10, end walls 11, and a floor 12. My cover, which is removably and adjustably secured to the car to make the same a closed car, includes a plurality of carlines 13, avhich extend transversely with respect to the car and have notched por tions 14, which tit over angle bars 15'?t carried on the upper edges of the car sides and ends. These carlines 13 are connected longitudinally by ridge piecesl and 16, which have hooked ends passing through openings 13,1

in the. carlines whereby the ridge ieces are4 removably locked to the carlines. pieces 16 include relatively adjustable sections 17 and 18, whereby the sections between the carlines may be made larger or smaller in accordance with demands.

As shown in Fig. 1 the car cover is adjusted to lit the regulation 40 ft. gondola car. By means of the adjustable ridge pieces the frame of the car top may be adjusted by means of the rigid members 17 and 1S, so that the cover may fit 36 and 34E ft. cars. By placing the adjustable members 17 and 18 between every two carlines, the cover can be contracted even a greater amount. The,adjustable members are secured in any adjusted position by suitable bolts and nuts 19. Whenthe frame of the cover is properly adjusted over the top of the car, the flexible portion of' the cover may bel stretched orplaced overthe frame of the cover and secured in position. rIfhis tiexible portion or member 20 ofthe cover is preferably a fabric such as canvas. The outerv sides of the canvas member 20 are. provided with loops 2,1 for the` reception u01E pieces of wood 22l which may be of` any'desired dimensions, said pieces of wood acting as anchors for stretching thel fabric over the frame work and also for facilitatioo ing securing the fabric in operative position. Auxiliary strips of fabric 23 are also provided at either side of the car, said strips acting in conjunction with the main piece of fabric 2O to prevent water from being driven into the car at the top portions thereof. Each of the strips 23 has a plurality of loop portions 24 and 25 which receive pieces of wood 26 and 27, respectively, of suitable dimensions. The pieces of wood or liners 26 rest upon the lateral inclined portions 28 of the carlines and the liner 22 of the main piece of fabric rests en top of the liner 26. These parts are held in a locked position, preferably as shown in Fig. 5, by hinges 29, one member 30 of each of which extends upwardly and sidewardly over the liner 22, and has an upstandng portion 31 having an opening 32 through which a clamping rod 33 passes.

By referring' to Figs. 1 and 3, it will be noted that the clamping rod 33 is preferably made up of three sections, 34, 35 and 36, the two outer sections 34 and 36 being linked with the middle section 35, the free ends of the outer sections passing` through the openings 32 of the upstanding portions 31 of the hinge members 30, nuts 37 being secured to the threaded endsi of the rod sections 34 and 36 to clamp the main part of the cover in its normal stretched and weather protecting position. It will be noted that the middle sections 35 of the clamping rods pass through eye-members 38 carried by cross supporting pieces 39 lo- .cated over the carlines and upon which the walk planks 40 are mounted. The other member 41 of each of the hinges extends downwardly and has a laterally extending portion which lits under the liner 27, which is pressed upwardly into engagement with the under side of the laterally extending `Hange of the side angle members 15a; Each of the hinge members 41 is held in a securing position by U-bolts 42 which pass through slots 43 in the carlines 13, and the ends of which U-bolts extend outwardly through openings in the ears 43a of the hinge member 41, and are tightened by nuts 44 to lock the hinge'members in place to hold the flexible cover portions in a weather protecting position. At the same time by means of this locking arrangement the frame work of the top is made rigid. The ends of the fabric or flexible covering 2O pass over the end carlines 13 which are Prefrably covered by canvas 45 or the like to prevent wear of the main covering 20. The ends of the canvas'are provided with loop portions 46 which receive liners 47 by means of which the ends of the fabric may be held and secured to the ends of the car in any suitable manner.

By means of this cover it is 'apparent that grain or other materials which may be affected by adverse weather conditions, may be safely carried without any damage being occasioned.

In Fig. 7 I have shown a modification of the securing means f or the cover in which l substitute for the hinges a bracket member 48, the lower end of which passes under the liner 49 and the upper portion of which is bent laterally and presses down upon the liner 50 for securing the parts in position. It will be noted that the bracket 4S is held in a position for locking the parts together solely by the U-bolts 51, the cross tie rods shown in the other' figures being dispensed with.

By means of this adjustable car cover', Car utility is greatly increased, said cover being made to lit the regulation 40 ft. gondola. It can also be easily adjusted, as hereinabove stated, to lit 36 and 34 ft. cars. lhen cars loaded with coal are sent to the grain belt they can be returned to the grain terminal under load, with the grain lading in perfect safety, protected by the weather proof fabric placed over the carlines as shown. The return of this adjustable cover from any grain terminal to the grain belt can be made easy by grouping the wooden parts together in three or four bundles; the fabric top can be rolled up in one bundle and the hinges, brackets, bolts, etc., can be put `into a small sack.V The dismantled cover occupies very little space and can be knocked down or assembled in a short length of time.

it is apparent that there may be various modifications of the invention herein particularly shown and described, and it is my intention to cover all such modifications which do not involve a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A cover for railway cars, including centrally arranged frame members having `relatively adjustable sections for varying the length of the cover, and a tra-inmans walk supported by said members.

2. A cover lfor railway cars, including frame members having relatively adjustable sections for varying the length of the cover, a trainmarfs walk supported by said members, and weather protecting means mounted over the frame members and under the walk.

3. A cover for railway cars, including frame members having relatively adjustable sections for varying the length of the car, a trainmans walk supported by said members, and a flexible water' protecting member mounted over said framemembers.

4. A cover for railway cars, including a plurality ofspaced members, relatively adjustable members connecting said spaced members, and a trainmans walk supported by said members.

5. A cover for railway cars, including cai-lines having openings therein, aflexible member mounted over said carlines, a securing member, and locking means passing through said openings and coperating with said securing means to lock the flexible member on said carlines.

6. In combination, a car, a cover therefor including spaced members, a flexible member mounted thereover, hinge members mounted on opposite sides of said car and operatively connected to said flexible member, means for securing the flexible member to said spaced members, and members connecting said hinge members on opposite sides of said car.

7. In combination, a car, a cover therefor including carlines with openings therein, flexible means mounted over said carlines, hinge members operatively connected with said car and with said flexible means, locking means passing through the openings in said carlines and securing the hinge members in a locking position, and transversel)7 extending members connecting the hinges on opposite sides of said car.

S. A cover for railway cars, including spaced members, means for connecting the same, weather protecting means covering Said spaced members, a walk extending over said spaced members, and means supported by said walk for holding the covering means to said spaced members.

9. A cover for railway cars, including spaced members, means for adjustably connecting said spaced members to vary the distance therebetween, a flexible weather protective member extending over said spaced members, and means extending transversely of' the cover for retaining the flexible member on said spaced members.

Signed at Chicago, State of Illinois, this 23rd day of July, A. D. 1917.

WILLIAM JOSEPH HOSCEIT. 

